Apparatus for reclaiming used lubricating oil and fuel substances



Dec, 16, 1924.l

C. P. GRIFFITH APPARATUS FOR RE'CLAIMING USED LUBRIC'EATING .OIL AND FUEL SUBSTANCES Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec, 16, 1924,

C. P. GRIFFITH APPARATUS FOR RECLAIMING USED LUBRIGATING OIL AND FUEL SUBSTANCES Filed Aug. l, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 52/ www @gw jy? uNiTaosrA or ron'r WAYNE, InDIANA, AssIGNoR To s. rn B oWsER a co., a fino., A CORPORATION or INDIANA.'

Patented Dee. ie, i924.

TES

CLEMENT r.` earrrrrn,

raierrr OFFICE.

APPARATUS FR RECLAIMING USED LUBRICATING OIL AND FUELk SUBSTNCES.

Application filed. Augustj 1, Serial No, 489,143.

To allwhom it may concern:`

13e it known that CLEMENT l). GRiFrrrH,

` 'acitizen of the United States, residing at tion, inventibnto provide an. apparatus to''be used Fort Wayne, in the county of Allen and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in an Apparatus for Reclaiming Used-liubricatingOil and Fuel Substances. v

The invention relates to an apparatus adapted tok be used in practicing the invenand lit isthe primary object` of lthe in purifying used lubricating oils whereby valuable partsrof the lubricant may be rendered itffor subsequent use and allfwasted and condensed fuel substances may be recovered for use as a by-product. i

. Itis a further object" ofv he invention to provide an"V improved apparatus' in which4 gasoline an`d other volatile fuel oils which become mixed with lubricant in the crank cases of gas eng-inesjmay be recovered and not be' permittedlto pass off in the reclaiming process as a waste vapor o r gas as heretofore practiced in reclaiming used motor lubricating oils. Y

It is ay further object ofthe invention to provide improved apparatus for drawing off from a treating tank a stratum of reclaimed lubricating oil `and at the same time allowing rthe non-usable stratum or awa .part of the oilbeing treated to remain in the treatingtanlr or chamber.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description, which is directed to my improved apparatus which is shown in detail in the drawings, in which Fig. 1 isa side elevationofhmy complete apparatus with portionsonly of ythe piping systems leading therefrom being broken is a detailofthe draw-dif apparatus Fig. 2

a portion of the tank in" the treating tank,

I ".v adjacent to said apparatus beingshown in broken section.I s y Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the treating tank being taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 looking downwardly,'as indicated, by the arrows. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken through the top of the separator unit on line lf-4 looking downwardly, as indicatedby the arrows in Fig. 1.

\ Fig. 5 is a "section Vthrough one of the' water and fsteam coils in the bottoni of thea' vention I treaging tank of Fig. 1, illustrating themanner n which the water and'steaan vents are formed to effectively direct the ffluidunder pressure against the tank bottom.; j

The reference characterv` 10 designates generally the walls of a treating tank which may be supported in any desired manner upon a floor, stand or other suitable' support, as-the legs indicated by' reference characters l11,and 12. Itis preferable, although not,

i by meI to construct the top closure member for the cylindrical tank 10 in the form of a cone, which is indicated by reference character 10b. For the purpose of introducing oil into the tank to be treated I provide the inlet pipe-15 through which dirty oil to be treated', may be. pumped. Near thebottom.v

of the cylindrical portion ofthe treating tankwlO there is a coil or pipe 16 which may extend peripherally around the interior o-f the tank bottom. This coil v1.6 will pref- .1 erably serve as the terminal for an inlet pipe 17 which passes outwardly through the wall -of the tank as at 18. Just onthe outside of the tank this pipe 17 is connected with a branclf fitting 19 which takes the pipes 20 and 21, one of which may communicate with a suitable source of water supply, and the other of 'which may communica-te with a source of steam supply, whereby ceither water or steam under the control of the valves indicated in the said pipes may be admitted into the coilL1 16 on they interior of tlie treating chamber accordingly, as may be desired in carrying out'the steps of my process. The coil 16, a portion of which is shown in sec* tion in Fig. 5, will preferably be provided with a number.0f openings -on the bottom `side thereof somewhat staggered as indicated by reference characters 22, 23 from which` it will be seen that jets of water or steam, accordingly as water or steam is adinitted into thel coil, may be projected in In carrylng out the .principles of my in- I first admit a quantity-of-dirty motor oilto'r, other material to betreated 'into the tank 10 through the .pipe 15 with all.:

avity outlets of course to the tank closed.

hen a suitable quantity of. dirt oil is within the tank, say anywhere, be ow the opening which is controlled by the relatively large screwthreaded closure member 24,- remove'the member 24'and place on the interior of the tank-a quantity of. suitable alkaline substance, preferably such asv soda ash or a common commercial alkaline washing powder. The soda ash, or other similar alkaline substance willl thus serve in the'v dirty oil as a coagulant for the purpose of inducing lsaponification and after the soda ash or its equivalent is introduced the hand valve 30, in thesteam pipe 20 will be opened and live steam introduced intov the coil 16, which w ll be discharged through the vents 22, 23 a d cause a violent agitation `of the dirty oil n the interior of the treating tank. The reclaimer tank 10 is preferably `of con-l siderablelsize although its size maybe varied accordin to the amount of oil treated. In the use o my improved apparatus I prefer to pump into the tank 10 any Vdesired quantity, as for example, five hundred gallons of dirty oil and 'add thereto before steaming, through the opening closed by the plate 24, approximately seventy-tve pounds of soda ash or equivalent material, and if smaller or greater quantities of oil are treated, obviously,

the same conditionswill govern as to the proportions to be ,used of the coagulant.

l through the oil without condensing.

After the oil and soda ash are in the tank the steam valve 30 may be opened wide until the contents of the reclaimer are raised to approximately 210 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit, after which the steam will pass After theA material being treated reaches the approximate temperature ofthe 'steam the amount of steam introduced may be considerably diminished. The" action of the steam willimmediately drive from the dirty oil being treated in the tank all the light volatile substances. It should be noted in thiscoiinection that in the'case of lubricating oil taken from the .crank cases of gas and gasoline engines the oil if used over an extended period will be. found charged with unbuned fuel 'such as 0fasoline, and

oil from gasoline engines frequently contains anywhere from 10 to 15% or more of unignited gasoline or other light oil. During the steaming process therefore all the gasoline, naphtha and other'light substances will vaorize and will pass off from the lliquid b ing treated in theftank and out i `through the conical top 10b and the perforation at the extreme top thereof into the pipe 31 leading to the condensing coil 32, which is contained within a water jacket or tank' 33 havingan inlet pipe 35 and a discharge pipe 34 whereby a. suitable cooling element as water may be caused to surround the conlubricating densing coil 32.' As the lighter oils coming through the discharge pipe 31 from the treating tank reach the coil 32 in the condenser the temperature of the same will be vice consisting of the compartment 37. The

water jacket or tank 33 supplying the cool ing medium to't lie. condensing coil 32 may be supported in any `desired manner 'as by a basev consisting of legs, as indicated by reference characters 38,39 and 40 with suitab-le connecting or ,bracing means, as 1ndicated byrefe'rence character 41. A'The con-1l densing compartment '37 may be supported in any suitable manner as on a base con-` sisting of legs 42, 43 and 44 and connecting and strengthening pieces as indicated at 45. The compartment 37 is provided with special separating devices whereby condensed water and the light oils as'gasoline, which so" y will accumulate: therein, may be separated by gravity, due to the different specific gravities of the fluids in the mixture coming from the condensing coil 32. In order to secure the ,desired degree 0f separation I provide an oil draw-off receiving device or funnel 49 and pipe 46 which is supported by f andV passes through the wall lof compartment 37 with a discharge nozzle or spout 47 positioned on the outside of the corn-v partment vto discharge into a receptacle48 intended to receive the gasoline or fluids `of similar specific gravity in the nature of fuel oils to be extracted from the dirty lubricating oil in the proeess of reclaiming. f

The water draw-olf pipe" 51 after passing inwardly through the wall of the compartment 37 is also deflected upwardly to -near the upper end of the compartment37 and some distance above the inlet port for the products of condensation comin from the' coil 32, and is preferably provided at its upper extremity with a receiving device or funnel 52 of a construction similar to the funnel 49. The upper receiving edges of the funnel members 49 and 52 are both arranged aeshort distanceabove the inlet opening. of the connection 36 and the oil receiving funnel 49 is located inra plane slightly above the plane ofthe upper end of the funnel 52, which.is intendedl to receivethe water overflow. The compartment 37` is divided (by a vertical partition 53, which is attached lto the side walls of the compartment at diametrically opposite portions of the walls dividing this compartment into two separate .compartments that are closed from eachother except at `the bottom of plate 53, where there is an opening designated by reference character 54 aording communication between the two divisions of lis condensed and collected and separated in the apparatus in the manner described. Heretoi'ore one 'of the objections to oil reclaiming apparatuses especially when used in densely populated communities has been the escape of obnoxious gases during the reclaiming operation.

The draw-oit apparatus preferably consists of a pipe which extends through the wall of compartment 10,.;as illustrated inthe drawings, somewhat below the middle portion thereof and is swivelly mounted to have rotation in a supporting plate 61. r'llhe latelhas a hub portion at 62 adapted to .extend through an opening in the wall lOof discharge the walloi'the treating tank 10 will-be to enable it to havea rotatable movement on its longitudinal axis and 'to this end on the eX-l tlie treating tank and in order to furnish a liquid tight connection with the discharge tube or pipe 60 journalled therein will pret'- -erably be screw threaded at its inner eX! tremity and provided 'with -a co-operating gland nut 63 between which and the hub portion62 suitable packing material, not shown, may-be inserted. rl`he plat/e 61 will also be provided withV a` threaded 'hub portion on the exterior, as indicated by reference character 64,'and adapted to take a co-operating screw threaded gland nut 65 beneath which, in alike manner may be placed packing material to -secure a liqvuid tight connection with the pipe 60, and at the same time allow the pipe 60 to rotate freely within the plate 61 and ,the-hub portions formed integrally therewith. lt .will be ,seen

that the purpose of thus mounting the 'oil ipe 60 in this connection with terior of the gland nut 65 l clamp an operating handle 66 having a suitable hand re- .Y ceiving portion as illustrated in Figs.l 1 and till 2 with the two-part clamp at-oneend adapted to encircle the pipe or tube 60 and be clamped thereto by suitable retaining bolts or screws," as illustrated by reference character '67, Fig. 2. rlhe pipe 60 on thel eX- terior of the operating handle or lever 66 may then be screw vthreaded and provided with a suitable valve controlled faucet 68 having a downwardly discharging nozzle 69, the valve'portion vthereinbeing under the control of an operating handle 70. The nozzle portion 69 will be directed over'the tion.

top of a suitable funnel 71, the discharge portion of which will be connected with a pipe 7 2 terminating in a three-way valve Z3 having two discharge pipes 74 and 7 5 respectively. -flhe pipe 74 may lead to a suitable container for reclaimed4 oil and when the valve 76`is adjusted oil may flow through th'e funnel 71 out through a connection with pipe 75 into a tank for the reception of oil that is not suitable for lubricating purposes but yet too valuable tov be discarded and hence, it will be collected and retreated at a subsequent reclaiming'opera- Y 1n order that theoperator may be enabled to see the character of the oil discharged rom the reclaimer through the discharge nozzle 69 into the funnel 71 l preferably coat the interior of the funnel 71 with some suitable material as nickel, which will enable the operator to slee the degree of `clearness of they oil being discharged into the funnel. 'Whenever' during the discharge of the lubricant into -the funnel theoperator detects the presence of dirtyoil he will adjust the three-way valve 76 so as to discharge from the clear oil tank to the dirty oil tank for further treatment. 'p

At the inner end-of the discharge pipe 60 on the interior 'of the treating tank 10 there is a three-way litting 80 which has communicating'the'rewith an upwardly extending pipe 81 and a shorter downwardly counterweight part 82. rThe pipe 81 at its upper extremity is open and is screw threaded and provided with a co-operating screw venient handoperating member or lever 811, whereby the cap' 83 will lbe accessible tothe operator by removing the screw threaded covering Qdof the compartment and-inserting his hand well into the tank.l As soon as the` cap 83 is removed from the upper eX- tremity of pipe 81. the operator may then by graspingthe hand lever 66vrotate the pipe 60 in the bearing aforesaid-described, Dand incline 'the discharge pipe 81, 82 to whatever angle may be desirable to bring the Vupper end thereof into the zone` of the reclaimed and purified oil. ln'thenoperation of the device the operator may operate the handv levery66 after the cap 83 is removedA until the reclaimed oil starts to run through the discharge'faucet 69 into the funnel 71 and he may continue the inclination by successive stages as long as he continues to vget a discharge ot..reclain1ed oil of the desired degree of clearness rom the apparatus, or

to avoid continuous attention he may lower(` the open end of the pipe 81`to the bottom of the clear'oilzone and allowthe clear oil to discharge. After drawing oli the reclaimed oill he may adjust valve 76 'to discharge into the pipe 75 and continue the operation'of the discharge lever 66 inclining the pipe'Sl lstill further and drawY 0H the vthreaded closure `cap 83 attached'to a condirty oil for further refining as long asdesired or until the pipe 81, 82 is inclined tov the ho-rizontal position, after which obviously, no further discharge may vbe' had through. the faucet 68. If however, before the maximum discharge. through the faucet 68 Ais obtained the oil shows-qualities that would preclude a'rfurther reclaiming operation on it', then the faucet 79 may lbe closed and what remainsofsludge,.water and other impurities in` the tank will be in condition for discharge to the sewer or other waste receiving means through the discharge pipe I 13 controlled by' valve 14 in the bottom of the tank. Theremaining waste Acontents of the tank may generally be drawn oft' through A the discharge pipe 13 at the. bottom and the discharge of heavy sludge; expedited' obviously by the introduction yokt'w'ater or steam through the vcoil 16, which will esult ina thorough cleansing of the interior of the tank,lwhen thereclaimer apparatus will be ready `for the treatment of anotherbatch ofoil.

understood 'I have described the method in connection with the preferred embodiment of apparatus forl use incarrying it out, but -it is not desired to be limited to the details shown, for it will be apparent thatpersons skilled in the art may resort to various modiication's especially of the apparatus without @departing from the purpose vand spirit of 'ny invention.

Iclaimz. 1. A tankfor reclaiming and separating mixed oils having a substantially L-shaped takeoff lpipe journalled in the side thereof, one angle of said pipe beino' normally vertically disposed within said tank and the other end of said pipe extendingthroughv and beyond the outer wall of safid tank, theA inner end of said pipe being screw threaded for the reception therein of a screw threaded closure cap, a hand grip carried by said cap, a hand hole in theside of said tank adjacent the4 upper end of said pipe when in 'l In order .that the invention might be fully normal position, and a yclosure cap for said hole. 7 y

2. In a device of thedescribed character,

having approximately vertical side walls with an opening therein, a bearing member' secured in said 'opening of the tank wall and being provided withpacking glands whereby to form a Huid tight connection with 'adischarge pipe and at vthe same time to permit said pipe to rotate freely in said bearing member, a pipe in said bearing mem ber having connected vto the inner end thereof on the interior of the tank an angularly,

normally upstanding pipe section, andbeing provided with a movable closure at`-the upper intake end thereof, a hand lever for ro- .tating' the pipe secured thereto onthe exterior of the bearing member and on the exterior of the tank, and a' valve controlled discharge ,faucet secured to the kouter ex# tremity of the pipe on `the exterior of the tank.

3. In a having a vertical Wall, there being an opening in said vertical' Wall, a pipe bearing secured to the said opening, a horizontal pipe fitting on thc interior of the metallic receptacle.

ldevice of the described character, K the combination with av metaliic receptacleu pipe in said pipe bearing, means for rotatnA testimony whereof I have signed my CLEMENT P. GRIFFITH.

{ name to this specification onthis 29th day .of July, A. D. 1921.

50 -the combination with 'a closed treating tank 

